20 Generation Kill June 2004 Evan Wright Read More 19 Heart of Darkness 1899 Joseph Conrad Read More 18 Sometimes a Great Notion July 1964 Ken Kesey Read More 17 The Hundred Years' War on Palestine January 2020 Rashid Khalidi Read More 16 Slouching Towards Bethlehem 1968 Joan Didion Read More 15 The Color Purple 1982 Alice Walker Read More 14 Lord of the Flies September 1954 William Golding Read More 13 Miles: The Autobiography 1989 Miles Davis & Quincy Troupe Read More 12 The Fruit Palace January 1985 Charles Nicholl Read More 11 Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation May 2020 Kristin Kobes Du Mez Read More 10 The Lost City of Z February 2009 David Grann Read More 9 Fahrenheit 451 October 1953 Ray Bradbury Read More 8 Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 1973 Hunter S. Thompson Read More 7 No Country for Old Men July 2005 Cormac McCarthy Read More 6 Legacy of Ashes January 2006 Tim Weiner Read More 5 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest February 1962 Ken Kesey Read More 4 The Monkey Wrench Gang August 1975 Edward Abbey Read More 3 The Great Shark Hunt 1979 Hunter S. Thompson Read More 2 The Nickle Boys July 2019 Colson Whitehead Read More 1 The Bonfire of the Vanities October 1987 Tom Wolfe Read More

Generation Kill Evan Wright June 2004 Generation Kill is a non-fiction book written by Evan Wright chronicling his time as an embedded reporter during and shortly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In early March 2003 Wright, on assignment with Rolling Stone Magazine , was sent to Camp Matilda, Kuwait where US Military was preparing what would be its brief but bloody second invasion of Iraq . After convincing a Marine commander that he was up to the assignment he spent two months with the Marine Corps. 1st Reconnaissance Battalion , which ended up including the entire initial Invasion and about 3 weeks of what would become an 8 year long period of US occupation and combat in Iraq . Initial reactions of the 1st Recon Marines were negative and some were suspicious of the liberal editorials' potential coverage of Marine behavior and actions, but were soon won over by Wright’s dedication and refusal to quit in the face of danger and during combat. He spent the entire invasion with the Alpha and Bravo teams of the 1st Recon Marines, often riding in the lead vehicle of Bravo team, a lightly armored Humvee , and even (reluctantly) carried a weapon during certain periods of the invasion. By the time his assignment was up, Wright had built close friendships with many of the Marines and was often treated as one of their own. On his return Wright published a three-part series for Rolling Stone on his time in Iraq that won the National Magazine Award for Excellence and began writing what would become one of the greatest and most proximate non-fiction writing on modern war and conflict, Generation Kill . Wright’s account of his experience with the young men of 1st Recon battalion puts the reader waist-deep into the experience of an elite and often intelligent group of young men molded to be warriors. Often reframing lower authority combat veterans as, just some, of the many victims of American aggression overseas, Wright addresses issues such as, war crimes, moral conflict of young soldiers, indoctrination mentality in the Marines, incompetence as well as nepotism of US senior leadership, and the violent dismantling of a vulnerable nation, with a level of humility and proximity that can’t be replicated without the harrowing experience he committed to in 2003. BUY NOW Previous Next

Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad 1899 Heart of Darkness is an 1899 novella by Joseph Conrad , initially published as a three-part piece in Blackwood's Magazine , that tells the story of Charles Marlow, a steamer captain tasked with recovering an ivory trader who has lost touch with his Belgian trading company. Throughout Marlow's voyage up the Congo River , he is exposed to and recounts different horrors and hypocrisies of European Imperialism . Conrad served as a maritime marine in 1890 in the Congo Free State , and his time there is often credited with inspiring Heart of Darkness . Consequently, Conrad delivers an almost firsthand account of a hypothetical [European male] experiencing colonialism in the late 1800s. However, until the civil rights movement of the 1960s, it was seen as a minor piece of work, even by Conrad. It is now considered one of the earliest written anti-imperial texts to gain major popularity. One of the central themes of the story is that civilized society is not so civilized; it merely exports its savagery to other parts of the world. Note: Heart of Darkness is considered an anti-colonial work, but it requires a bit of historic context to benefit from. While Conrad certainly had anti-colonial opinions to share with the world, he was still no doubt a bystander and a major beneficiary of colonialism. He was also not a victim of colonialism but a part of the perpetrating society of it, and subsequently, some of his critiques fall very short of what we would consider liberal and humane today. BUY NOW Previous Next

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 Hunter S. Thompson 1973 Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 recounts and analyzes the 1972 presidential campaign in which Richard Nixon was re-elected. Illustrated by Ralph Steadman , the book was largely derived from Thompson's articles serialized in Rolling Stone throughout 1972. The book focuses on the Democratic Party 's primaries and the breakdown of the party as it splits between the different candidates such as Ed Muskie and Hubert Humphrey . Of particular focus is the manic maneuvering of George McGovern 's campaign during the Miami convention as they sought to ensure the Democratic nomination despite attempts by Humphrey and other candidates to block McGovern. Thompson began his campaign coverage in December 1971, just as the race toward the primaries was beginning, from a rented apartment in Washington, D.C. (a situation he compared to "living in an armed camp, a condition of constant fear"). Over the next twelve months, in voluminous detail, he covered every aspect of the campaign, from the smallest rally to the raucous conventions. An early fax machine was procured for Thompson after he inquired about the device while visiting venture capitalist Max Palevsky , who concurrently served as chairman of Xerox and Rolling Stone for several years in the early 1970s. Dubbing it "the mojo wire", Thompson used the nascent technology to capitalize on the freewheeling nature of the campaign and extend the writing process precariously close to printing deadlines, often haphazardly sending in notes mere hours before the magazine went to press. Fellow writers and editors would have to assemble the finished product with Thompson over the phone. Like his earlier book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas , Thompson employed a number of unique literary styles in On the Campaign Trail , including the use of vulgarity and the humorous exaggeration of events. Despite the unconventional style, the book is still considered a hallmark of campaign journalism and helped to launch Thompson's role as a popular political observer. BUY NOW Previous Next

Sometimes a Great Notion Ken Kesey July 1964 Sometimes a Great Notion is Ken Kesey 's the second novel, published in 1964. While One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest published 2 years prior is more famous, many critics consider Sometimes a Great Notion Kesey's magnum opus . The plot revolves around a family of gyppo loggers who cut trees for a local mill in opposition to unionized workers on strike in the fictional town of Wakanda, Oregon . While the patriarch of the family (Hank Stamper) is at odds with his small town of unionized workers his half brother, Lealand, returns from New York City with to work for the family and settle a decades long vendetta with his older brother. The resulting story is a American epic that dives peers deep into the history of American westward expansion and Patriarchy . The novel bounces between different first person perspectives throughout giving the reader an intimate understanding of each character and their motivations. As a result we're provided with a story that's less about what happens and more about the price of human pride, isolation, and the weight of the past. BUY NOW Previous Next

The Hundred Years' War on Palestine Rashid Khalidi January 2020 The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine is a non-fiction history book written by historian and professor Rashid Khalidi , published in January 2020. The book describes the Nakba , or the Palestinian political experience, from the Balfour Declaration in 1917 onward—when the British government effectively declared a colonial war effort on Palestine by endorsing the Zionist project —and continues through to 2017, with ongoing support from the United States . Khalidi was born in New York City, received his undergraduate degree from Yale, and earned his PhD from Oxford before traveling to Lebanon to teach at the American University of Beirut . While serving as a professor in Beirut during a time of conflict in Lebanon , he was deeply involved in politics, acting as an independent political consultant to the PLO and as a valuable source for global media outlets. He returned to the United States in the 1980s, teaching at both Yale and the University of Chicago before joining Columbia University, where he currently holds the Edward Said Professorship of Modern Arab Studies. Editor's Note: This book is a piece of non-fiction political history that approaches the issue of aggression toward Palestine from that perspective. Khalidi pays little attention to the theological arguments that continue to be used as justification for the slaughter of thousands of innocent people. Instead, he illustrates the issue through a modern, political, academic lens, arguing that the foundation of Israel was a British colonial project launched too late for global acceptance when all is said and done. I tend to agree with Dr. Khalidi. This book and the facts presented within it are invaluable for understanding the conflict in Palestine and should serve as a foundation for any discussion of the myriad atrocities that have plagued the Palestinian people for over a hundred years. BUY NOW Previous Next

Selections No.4

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The Nickle Boys Colson Whitehead July 2019 The Nickel Boys is based on the historic Dozier School , a segregated reform school in Florida that operated for 111 years and was revealed as highly abusive. A university investigation found numerous unmarked graves for unrecorded deaths and history into the late 20th century of emotional and physical abuse of students. Colson Whitehead's novel is a perfect reminder that the struggle for equality in America is still very early in its timeline. In 2020, The Nickel Boys won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction . BUY NOW Previous Next

The Bonfire of the Vanities Tom Wolfe October 1987 Tom Wolfe's story is a unique crime drama about ambition, racism, social class, politics, and greed in 1980s New York City, and centers on three main characters: WASP bond trader Sherman McCoy, Assistant District Attorney Larry Kramer, and British expatriate journalist Peter Fallow. The story was originally written in installments for Rolling Stone Magazine and afterward was heavily revised as a novel. Editor's Note: (Please don't watch the movie, it's dog shit) BUY NOW Previous Next

Miles: The Autobiography Miles Davis & Quincy Troupe 1989 In 1985, Spin magazine hired poet and writer Quincy Troupe to write an exclusive two-part interview with Miles Davis . The interview was published in the November 1985 and December 1985 issues. Davis, often known for his strained relationship with media, took a liking to Quincy’s work, and over the next 4 years went to work writing Miles: The Autobiography . Miles, unfortunately cast in the public eye as a controversial character, is incredibly forthrite is his own story putting little effort towards 'sanitizing his image". Even if you aren’t familiar with his music Davis’s story is a worthwhile read. His career as one of the godfathers of Jazz and modern music spanned 4 very pivotal decades in the history of American music. His Insights on the entertainment industry , racial issues in America, and the commodification of music are invaluable. On top of that, from Jimi Hendrix to Louis Armstrong , Miles hung with some very significant people and has some wild stories and anecdotes that are well worth a look. BUY NOW Previous Next

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The Fruit Palace Charles Nicholl January 1985 After winning the Daily Telegraph''s "Young Writer Award" In 1972, Charles Nicholl traveled to Colombia . Spending a bulk of his time in Santa Marta , Nicholl rented a backroom in a Cafe called The Fruit Palace and quickly found himself endeared to his host Nation. 12 years later, working in London, a publisher bent on chasing the "right book at the right time", approached Nicholl with the opportunity to travel to Colombia and write a tell-all on the "Cocaine underworld" in Colombia. With the dangling carrot of a publishing opportunity and almost no plan at all, Nicholl reluctantly flew Columbia to plant himself as deep in the industry as he could. The end result is an amazing first hand adventure that is both exciting and insightful. Editor's Note: Nicholl's story is a wonderful piece, of what I would call gonzo journalism , providing not only insights into the cocaine and drug trade of the 80's, but also into centuries long issues regarding colonialism and indigenous history in Colombia. BUY NOW Previous Next

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Ken Kesey February 1962 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a novel by Ken Kesey published in 1962. Set in an Oregon psychiatric hospital , the narrative serves as a study of institutional processes and the human mind, including a critique of psychiatry and a tribute to individualistic principles. War hero Chief Bromden narrates the Novel. Bromden is a large half-Native American patient at the psychiatric hospital, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia , after seeing his father, a Native American chieftain, humiliated at the hands of the U.S. government and his white wife. Bromden's narrative follows the power struggle between the patients and the hospital staff in tandem with the power dynamics of consumer societ y in America. BUY NOW Previous Next

Lord of the Flies William Golding September 1954 Written in 1954 , Lord of the Flies is William Golding 's debut novel. The story concerns a group of British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island , during an fictional world war , and their tragic attempt to govern themselves that leads to a descent towards violence and impromptu tribalism. The book is largely Golding's response to a famous novel written in 1857 by R. M. Ballantyne , The Coral Island , a children's adventure novel with a focus on Christianity and the supposed civilising influence of British colonialism . Golding thought that the book was unrealistic and asked his wife whether it would be a good idea if he "wrote a book about children on an island, children who behave in the way children really would behave?" BUY NOW Previous Next